An Outline of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, andImmigration Modernization Act of 2013, which is the Senate’s “Gang ofEight” bill, has been released.  MU Law has posted a copy of the17-page Outline on ourDoc Stoc page.

It is important to recognizethat this is just an Outline.  Several of the Outline’s bullet points areinconsistent and outright contradictory with other bullet points.  It isalso important to note that the bill is far from becoming law.  The Senatewill have hearings to amend the bill throughout April and May. 

If the bill passes the SenateJudiciary Committee and the Senate as a whole, a separate ComprehensiveImmigration Reform bill will be announced in the House ofRepresentatives.  The House bill will also have to pass that chamber andthen be remedied with the Senate bill.  Only then will it be presented toPresident Obama for signature.  The key take-away is that this bill isstill many steps from becoming law. 

Keeping in mind that thefinal CIR may look different than this one, this MU Law Visa Advisor only highlights severalkey items that will be of interest to our clients and friends.  Also,although the 17-page Oultine includes sections on Border Protection andUndocumented Worker Legalization we have not summarized these areas of the lawin this MU Law Visa Advisorsince they are of lesser interest to our clients and friends.  

Here is the brief MU LawSummary of the Senate’s CIR bill:

EMPLOYMENT-BASEDGREEN CARDS
–         The Senate CIR bill calls for an immediate elimination of retrogression for currently-pendinggreen card applications.  If this provision is true as listed in theSummary hundreds of thousands of long-delayed EB-2 and EB-3 applications wouldbe immediately eligible for Adjustment of Status, Immigrant Visa appointments,and Green card issuance.  It is unclear how the USCIS and State Departmentwould handle this immense overload of applications.

–         Going forward employment-based green card numbers would dramaticallyincrease.  Theoretically this could mean that future retrogression issmall.

EMPLOYMENTVERIFICATION
–         All employers will be required to use E-verify over a five-year phase inperiod, which will include enhanced photographic measures.

H-1B / L-1 VISAS
–         The H-1B visa cap will increase to 110,000, and can increase to 180,000 overseven years.

–         Spouses of H-1B visa holders will gain work eligibility.

–         H-1B prevailing wage rules may be changing, mandating higher wages for H-1Bworkers.  It is somewhat unclear in the Outline to what extent theprevailing wage rules will change.

–         Employers with more than 50 employees and who have 50% of their workforce who(a) hold H-1B and/or L-1 and (b) who do not have a green card pending, must payan additional $10,000 in H-1B / L-1 filing fees.

–         Employers with more than 50 employees and who have 30% of their workforce who(a) hold H-1B and/or L-1 and (b) who do not have a green card pending, must payan additional $5,000 in H-1B / L-1 filing fees.

–         By 2016 any employer who has more than 50% of its workforce on H-1B / L-1status will be ineligible to petition for H-1B and/or L-1 visas.

–         All employers who wish to hire an H-1B must advertise the position on agovernment database for 30 days.